When Richard Johnson began posting online critiques of Aurora’s governance under the moniker “councilwatch,” he never expected he would become the target of legal action from the city’s outgoing mayor.

Now, he is among several residents named in a $6-million lawsuit alleging defamation against Mayor Phyllis Morris, who was ousted by political newcomer Geoff Dawe in a landslide vote last month. Her statement of claim, filed in Superior Court this week, says critical blog posts on the website auroracitizen.ca — including allegations of corruption, lies and extreme fiscal mismanagement — made Ms. Morris the subject of “ridicule, hatred and contempt,” and even led to threats.

The case pits the rights of bloggers to freely opine against the rights of politicians to defend their reputations against online attacks, and raises the question of what constitutes fair comment in the increasingly unwieldy Internet realm, where a solitary comment may be read by millions of people worldwide.

“The wild west, that’s what it’s like out there,” said Lorne Honickman, an expert in defamation law and a member of Toronto mayor-elect Rob Ford’s legal team. “The Internet is the world now. And courts haven’t even caught up with the ramifications, from a damage point of view, of what that means.”

In Mr. Ford’s case, a plethora of oppositional websites sprang up this year as the controversial Toronto councillor’s bid for the mayoralty gained steam. One, which included derogatory posts purporting to be from Mr. Ford himself, was yanked after lawyers sent a letter to the author citing the spectre of defamation.

A similar website, of which both Mr. Ford and Mr. Honickman on Thursday said they were unaware, has since sprung up at blobford.com, where the author — identifying himself alternatively as “Blob Ford” and “Rob Ford” — routinely launches into bizarre diatribes about weight, bodily functions and drug use.

“It’s always a very, very blurry line,” Mr. Honickman said of how bloggers should know when they are crossing into dangerous territory. “Politicians always have to have ‘thicker skin.’ Everybody expects that. They take a hit all the time.”

In numerous instances, politicians have fought back. Lawsuits by town officials against dissenting authors of blogs and newsletters have arisen in Halton Hills and Montague Township, though both were dismissed. In Wellington County, government officials are suing a Guelph man over statements on the website smelly-welly.com.

Cara Zwibel, director of the fundamental freedoms program with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, says it is always a concern when public officials take litigious steps against critical constituents.

“There may be things that cross the line, but we want to see that line get pushed to create a nice, big area for people to express themselves,” Ms. Zwibel said.

In the case of Aurora’s Ms. Morris, the mayor cites “false and defamatory statements” with headings such as “A Question of Character — or Lack Thereof” and “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.” Mr. Johnson and his co-defendants, William Hogg and Elizabeth Bishenden, are named as the alleged moderators of the website, though Mr. Johnson denies he played any role in moderating comments. The offending posts are attributed to anonymous individuals, who, along with web host wordpress.com, are also named as defendants.

Lawyer Howard Winkler, who is representing the Mayor, declined to provide a copy of the specific posts, citing the potential for further harm. In general, the statements implied the mayor was a “compulsive liar” who wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, engaged corrupt lawyers and a “puppet” integrity commissioner, and behaved “as would the devil,” the claim alleges. One comment allegedly suggested the Mayor “should be hanged with her own mayoral chains.”

Mr. Winkler believes the posts “went beyond normal political discourse, and were so extreme that our view is that the law ought not to condone those kinds of statements.” The Mayor, who lost the election by more than 4,000 votes, believes the online turmoil harmed her bid, Mr. Winkler said.

Mr. Johnson, a former supporter of Ms. Morris who says he became “disillusioned” with her behaviour in office, decries the use of taxpayer dollars to fund her lawsuit — a situation that may change when the new council takes office Dec. 1.

“It really does strike at the nerve of what I think democracy is all about,” Mr. Johnson said. “It has a chilling effect on my willingness to be involved. When this lawsuit is over, I want nothing to do with my municipal government.”

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